#zaravant

[innerchorus]

Arslan Senki Chapter 149

Racing through this post before I go back to working on the Kubard/Shapur fic (yes despite the Daryun/Don Ricardo brainrot I am still making some slow progress with this one, too).

Enjoyed that the chapter opened with Zaravant and Jimsa and their men; it allows for Jimsa's Turanian take on the lightning (which in actuality seems to be caused by the Snake King's arrival in Ecbatana). I appreciate that even though he's now a follower of Arslan, Jimsa is still a Turanian through and through. He steals the show this chapter tbh.

Having them recognise Kubard's horse as it staggers past and collapses had the tension shooting up as sure enough their eyes are drawn to what's happening at the gate - Kubard, the Snake King's sword still in him.

Snakes getting involved!

I always said that Kubard is the voice of reason when it comes to not letting perceived honour get in the way of what needs to be done, and in this chapter he shouts for Zaravant to shoot because this isn't Andragoras, it's Zahhak, urges them to keep shooting, fervently hopes that Jimsa and Zaravant will run away... If he lives, he'd never stand for one on one duels against Zahhak.

IF he lives.

Zahhak's attacks look like something out of the Musou game, WTF. He just cuts a bloody swathe right through the soldiers. And it looks like it's mainly to clear a path to Jimsa and Zaravant, who he wants to recruit.

Corrosive white blood in action again thanks to Kubard managing to chop off one of the snakes and push the Snake King away...

But Zahhak's attention is now turned to Jimsa and Zaravant. He wants to recruit them, Kubard wants them to run away, and they... they both want to stand their ground and remain loyal to Arslan.

You've got to feel sorry for Kubard. He did all he could here; he engaged the Snake King himself after hearing Jimsa and Zaravant's voices (perhaps hoping that if they reinforced him the three of them could take Zahhak down, perhaps seeking to protect them so they could run away while he fought instead), even pinned down by Zahhak's sword he was quick to issue orders for them to shoot, he was able to cut off a snake and free himself, but now Jimsa and Zaravant stand between him and the Snake King, and all he wants is for them to flee and they... they won't.

Zahhak saying 'All people are equally offerings to me' OH FUCK that's chilling

Kubard has faced the Snake King. He knows Zahhak will kill both Jimsa and Zaravant if they attack, that they cannot defeat him, that fleeing is the best option they have. If you think about it, he's actually been looking out for the youngsters before, from taking Isfan under his wing to wanting to get revenge when Zaravant was poisoned (by Jimsa, lololol) and now he's desperate for them to get out of harm's way (just like Shapur didn't at Atropatene).

This is why I'm still expecting him to die, tbh. He's already wounded. If they try to rescue him, he will only hamper their escape. He ran at Atropatene and I don't think he regrets that, because it allowed him to live through that day, but I think more likely than him running again is that we will see him sacrifice himself so that Jimsa and Zaravant (if both are still alive) can escape.

What I meant when I said Jimsa stole the show.

Loved that as a Turanian, he's afraid of/superstitious of lightning, but has no innate fear of the Snake King. That's why he was the one who fired the arrow even though Kubard shouted for Zaravant.

After kicking Zaravant's horse to send it clear. This feels like a very Turanian comment, too. And we see another nice bit of Turanian-style riding as he leans down to snatch arrows from the quiver of a dead soldier before nocking two at once to his bow.

Those two arrows may have taken out both of Zahhak's shoulder snakes at once, from the looks of it, as Jimsa goes leaping right over Zahhak on his horse!

Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe (hopefully) with Zahhak's snakes incapacitated, all three will be able to come through this somehow. It definitely feels like we're in a better position than at the start of the chapter, but Zahhak is an extremely formiddable foe. His snakes will likely regenerate soon. And Kubard is still badly wounded. Watch this space, I guess?

'moldy old king from some Parsian folk tale'

I love that.

Even with Jimsa's arrows in his shoulders, the Snake King seems curious rather than perturbed, though, and that... can't be a good sign. It still feels like a worrying situation to me.

[tired-reader-writer]

I really wasn't expecting a direct name-drop of the Art of War, I must say 😭

That is such a funny description.

I have pointed this out before but I find it so interesting yet funny that Gieve is territorial over Arslan like this. So much for your I Don't Give A Shit act, boy.

LUSITANIA ALSO HAS A SLAVE SYSTEM?! I wonder if this refers to indentured servants or serfs but then again. The word slave here is very glaring considering their propaganda machine (at least initially) ran on their lack of slavery and thus supposed moral superiority. Huh....

Are Pars, Turan, and Maryam the only countries that border the Darband Inland Sea? (We know Turanians don't really love the sea so of course they're out of the discussion so... really, only Pars and Maryam? Huuuuh.

Again, only Pars and Maryam mentioned. Is Maryam huge enough to just have possession of all non-Parsian coastlines?

Nothing to comment, just pinning any Shapur-related information down.

I wonder what Guiscard meant by this. If Arslan were the kind to care more about his father than the throne, won't Andragoras have more value as a hostage, not less? If Arslan didn't care, why would having Andragoras as a hostage prevent Arslan from attacking without consideration or holding back?

The funerary tradition of Pars seems to ubiquitously be just... burial! Which is of course not in line with what it would've been in ancient Persia because the Zoroastrian faith forbids the pollution of water and earth and fire with a dead body! The dead body is considered impure, and only very specific people are allowed to handle it, prepare it for what is called a sky burial, where the goal is to get the body consumed by vultures as quick as possible so as to not pollute anything. The remaining bone fragments and such are placed into the ossuary inside the so-called “tower of silence” (the Persian term, I believe, just means “crypt”). We see NONE OF THAT in here, despite the Parsian faith in ArSen supposedly being based on Zoroastrianism— I guess the thing with large armies and mass death complicate matters somewhat, maybe there could've been exceptions? I did seem to have seen something along the lines of encasing the body in wax before burying it, in a way preventing pollution of the earth, but don't quote me on that. If I start thinking too hard about funerary traditions in ArSen I will start to scream.

Interesting sentiment regardless. Like Lusitanians would “pollute” the land just by dying within Parsian territory.

[daryun]

Akakkoko bringing back some older art in preparation for the latest chapters.

There are a few more pics if you want to have a look. I really love their work.

[dejavidetc]

commission for @theunawesomeduck :333

christmas commissions are open! 

[colleyuriko]

“Dekigokoro“ - Arslan Senki style

Read from right to left. Yeah, I know I probably got carried with the thick pencil, but I wanted to try it out.

I got this idea from a Rakugo story, performed in the pilot episode of “Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu” and is about a thief who plans on robbing a house, but finds that there is nothing worth stealing. The owner then returns suddenly. Soon, the his landlord also arrives. The owner claims that he can’t pay his rent because all his valuables have been stolen. The thief has hidden himself away and it listening to the conversation.

One of the lines in the story reminded me of Tūs.

[strangeshipper]

“Mo-orning?“ Arslan Senki : : Jimsa, Zaravant

(Done for the Arslan Senki fandom team at Winter Fandom Kombat 2017 on diary.ru. Unfortunately, you can see the fest only if you’ve logged in diary.ru)

[tired-reader-writer]

136 Live-reaction

I wonder if Kharlan will bring this up to Hilmes as well...

OH THAT'S CREEPY AS FUCK

The undead marzban are so unnatural and creepy ohhhh my fucking god

ZARAVANT'S HORSE I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU

If you guys will remember, during the Turanian invasion arc, Zaravant fell off his horse after getting hit by Jimsa's poison darts, but the horse must've circled around back to Zaravant. AND. When he was being carted away to be healed, this same horse was trying to stay with him all throughout, even though a soldier was trying his damnest to pull it in another direction!

Good horse!

YEOWCH CAN YOU NOT TWIST LIKE THAT.

Also, wonder if there's any significance to zeroing in on Kishward's expression here 🤔

This was a funny bit. I'm surprised they managed to incorporate this aspect of Tus into the manga at all! I thought it was forever gonna stay only in novel territory. (Also was it his friends' sisters in the novel and daughters in the manga or am I misremembering?)

I also think there's something to be said about how all three are his lawful wives instead of one being the main wife and the others concubines? As it tends to be with nobility? That's interesting.

Coming again into the whole “atone for your sins” thing started by Manuchuhr! Also Garshasp is hitting where it hurts, OOF. I think “usurper king” here refers to Hilmes? The dramatic irony of the label Hilmes repeatedly referred to Andragoras with, being turned around and applied to him.

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Thinking about the Turanian invasion (the one in the canon era, not the one that's looming over the horizon in the fic rn) and Kishward (and Bahman?) imploring lords around the country to omg go and help Team Gorgan PLEASE and thinking about who'd show up... I think Lushan would. He just has that air about him— I wonder if Tus and Zaravant would, and if so, what would prompt them...

Meanwhile Gorgan is chaos.

(also thinking a lot about Ranna and Alfarīd, help me)

Ooh, some logistics at play here! Since this is AU based I'm not sure how much advance warning they have of the Turanian army's approach but from the sounds of it in this scenario the border has already been breeched and Team Gorgan are attempting to hold them up which... I don't envy them the task but it sure sounds like it'll be exciting to read about.

I don't know what Bahman's mental state is like here but if he's troubled by anything like he is in canon then I imagine Kishward may take the lead... However, Bahman still has some steel in him and it's not unbelievable to think that Gorgan's need for reinforcements would galvanise him into action (though perhaps he's more likely to eventually surprise everyone by stepping forward to lead troops to bolster the defences himself rather than taking the lead with initially reaching out to various lords etc, which is a task I imagine would fall to Kishward while Bahman is still beset by apathy and other worries).

I assume they're sending messages to ask for reinforcements? That makes it even harder to apply pressure on reluctant lords, so they're probably aware of who they can likely count on and who they can't (Andragoras may have been able to essentially strong-arm the shahrdaran but many of them, like Hodir, would be content to sit and wait and see how things play out in his absence, especially if their own territory is not under threat.)

It's a tricky one because it's Prince Arslan's presence and proclamations that draw the various lords and their troops to Peshawar. It's hard to say exactly how many would come otherwise. I feel as though Zaravant would, he evidently feels a sense of duty towards his country and would put himself forward to represent Oxus as he does in canon. The fact that the Marzbans in Peshawar are trying to organise further defense of the border and Pars's lands would likely be enough for him. That might be a nice surprise for Kishward and Bahman who may have assumed nobody from Oxus would come. Tus would go too, probably. He has a garrison of men who would be of great help.

Lushan likewise would help if he could, even if he's not shown leading troops on the battlefield himself he's still had a military education and would presumably have troops available to him. One thing to consider though is where everyone is coming from and how much time they have (as in, how fast do they need to get to Peshawar and then on to Gorgan in order to be of real help?). This is a large invasion and the Turanians probably have very good troop mobility, I don't know how long Gorgan could hold them before they break through or bypass their defences and beseige Peshawar itself instead. Some characters might have some debate about whether it's worth leaving their lands or whether it would be better to sit tight and wait, especially as Andragoras's fate is unknown. There's likely no precedent for what to do when the Shah is missing.

I don't know how helpful these ramblings will be since a lot depends on the specifics of your AU! Happy to talk about it more (though I won't be online again now until later or maybe tomorrow).